Bicycle-handle-bar clip



(No Model.)

B. H. OLDS. BICYCLE HANDLE BAR CLIP.

- Patented Jun'e 1,1897.

jlllllllflll IIFIIiIlTIiIlIEIH WITNESSES: g Meg/54 lA/VE/VTOH )MMW/fiWMQW A A TTOlM/E Y S UNITED STATES PATENT OFFI E.

EUGENE H. OLDS, OF FORT \VAYNE, INDIANA.

BlCYCLE-HANDLE-BAR CLIP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 583,860, dated June 1,1897.

A plication filed December 8, 1896. Serial No. 614,959. (No model.)

To (FLU whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EUGENE H. OLDS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Fort Wayne, in the county of Allen, in the State of Indiana,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bicycle-Handle-BarClips; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled inthe art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in bicycle-handlebar clipsspecially designed and adapted for wood handle-bars.

The object of my invention is to provide a cheap, simple, and efficientclip for bicycle wood handle-bars having the spring-steel clip rigidlyfixed on the supporting-stem to avoid all liability to turn thereon, andthus obviates the necessity for set-screws and other holding devicesthereon, has a solid instead of a split thread for the clamping-collarto avoid the usual cutting and injury to the threads, is provided withopposite lateral slits to permit of an adjustment of at least oneeighthof an inch in the diameter of the handle-bar without strain upon themetal, and is so arranged that all strain in rigidly gripping thehandle-bar is upon the spring-steel clip and not upon the tubular stem.

My invention comprises a spring-metal clip stamped from a single pieceof metal having its head provided with a transverse eye to receive thehandle-bar, and upon its lower end a solid screw-threaded portionadapted to receive aclamping-collar and a holding-nut and provided withlateral slits to permit of a limited compression of said clip to conformto the size and contour of the handle-bar.

The principal novel feature of my invention consists in the constructionby which an increased centripetal compression of the clip-eye is securedwithout strain upon the metal.

In the accompanying drawings similar reference-numerals indicatecorresponding parts throughout the several views, in which- Figure 1 isa perspective view of my invention with the operative parts arranged inthe position they assume when clamping the contained handle-bar. Fig. 2is a plan of the clamping-collar, showing its general rectangularcontour. Fig. 3 is a cross-section of the same, showing the teeth whichform a bite on the lower face of the handle-bar and also showing theinclined faces which compress the slitted portions of the clip-head.Fig. 4 is a view in elevation of the tubular stem with the spring-metalclip fixed or brazed thereon. Fig. 5 is a side view of the same, showingthe slits in said clip to permit of a greater centripetal compressionand adjustment of said clip. I I

The clip 2 is shaped from a single piece of spring-steel and has itsends united and formed into an annular screw-threaded portion 3, whichis then brazed or rigidly fixed upon the upper end of the tubular stem1, of the usual size and construction. The transverse eye 4 of saidclip, in which the handle-bar is inserted and secured, has its sideslaterally extended from the opposite points 11 near the top of saidstem, Fig. ft, to afford a more extended gripping-surface. The clip 2has two diametrically opposite longitudinal slots 5 opening into thelower portion of said eye 4, and are coincident with corresponding slotsin the upper end of said stem 1. \Vhile these slots 5 are not absolutelyessential to my invention, their use is preferred to afford an increasedcontraction or adjustment of said eye by the clamping-collar in grippingthe handle-bar. The clip 2 is also provided with thevertical slits 12,four in number, two upon each side of said eye at the lower free edgesof its extended sides, Fig. 5, and arranged in approximate alinementwith the said screwthreaded portion, whereby the said slitted portionscan be subjected to increased centripetal compression in the mannerhereinafter described. The collar 7 has a cylindrical base, is adaptedto be slipped on said tubular stem 1, over and upon the said threadedportion 3, and is provided upon its upper face with two oppositeparallel faces having a plurality of serrations 8, adapted to form abite upon the handle-bar, and also with the two opposite parallelvertically extended flanges 10, whose inner faces are outwardly flaringto embrace and clamp the clip 2, as shown in Fig. 1. The said flangeslOare providedat each extremity with the inclined gripping-faces 9,having a width equal to that of the said teeth 8 and having a differentincline from that of the said flanges, and are adapted to engage andcompress the said slitted portions of the clip 2. The nut 6 isinternally screw-threaded, adapted to fit the screw-threaded portion 3,is preferably hexagonal, as shown, and is adapted to force the collar 7upwardly on said stem toward the handle-bar to rigidly lock the same. I

The operation of my invention thus described is obvious, and, brieflystated, is as follows: WVhen the wood handle-bar is placed in positionin the clip-eye 4, the collar 7 is slipped on said stem 1 into contactwith the cylindrical portion of the clip, with its serrated facesarranged transversely of the clipeye, to form a bite upon the lower faceof the handle-bar when the said collar is forced home. The nut 6 is nowso adjusted on the stem 1 as to force the collar 7 upwardly toward thehandle-bar, thereby forcing the springmetal clip to conform to both thesize and contour of the handle-bar in gripping the same,while the teeth8 slightly enter said handle-bar. Practical tests show that the clipheadwill admit of an adjustment of at least one-eighth of an inch in thediameter of the bar. As the said slitted portions 13 of the clip-headareengaged by the corresponding gripping-faces 9, it is obvious that thesaid slitted portions 13 are adapted for an independent and greatercentripetal compression by said collar than that portion of said clipengaged by the flaring flanges 10 without causing any strain upon themetal, which is not the case when the said slits are not employed. In asubsequent application, Serial No. 625,023, I have described and claimeda modified form of my invention in which the said slitted portions 13are omitted.

Having thus described my invention and the manner of employing the same,what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a clip for bicyclehandle-bars, the combination of the spring-metal clip 2, slotted asshown, having its lower end screwthreaded and brazed upon a tubularsupporting-stem, and having the head thereof longitudinally extended andslitted as described; a clamping-collar 7 having the parallel flanges10, the serrations S, and the inclined gripping-faces for the purposespecified; and a securing-nut 6 adapted to force the said collar towardthe handle-bar for clamping the same, all substantially as described.

2. In a handle-bar clip, the combination of the tubular stem 1; aspring-metal clip 2 rigidly fixed thereon as described having atransverse eye 4 for the handle-bar, and havin g upon its lower portiona screw-thread for the holding-nut and provided with peripheral slits 12for the purpose specified; and means for rigidly clamping and securingsaid clip to the handle-bar, substantially as described.

3. In a handle-bar clip the combination of the tubular stem 1 slotted asdescribed; the spring-metal clip 2 having the slot 5, the peripheralslits 12, the screw-threaded portion 3 and the transverse eye 4; theclampingcollar 7 having the holding-teeth 8, the clam ping-flanges 10,and the gripping-faces 9 for the slitted portion of the clip-head; andthe holding-nut 6, all substantially as described.

4. In a handle-bar clip, the clip head provided with slitted sections, aclamping-nuthaving two parallel serrated faces for the purposespecified, and the opposite flanges 10 adapted to grip the clip-head andprovided with the gripping-faces 9, adapted to impart to the slittedsections of the said clip-head as described an independent and increasedcentripetal compression for the purpose specified, all constructed andarranged substantially as described.

Signed by me, at Fort \Vayne, Allen county, State of Indiana, this al-thday of December, A. D. 1896.

EUGENE H. OLDS.

Vitnesses:

IDA L. Ross-LEWIN, SOPHIA L. SGHWARZE.

